This is It
by xXIBtwistV2Xx
Summary: This is it! The final showdown between Mario and Bowser! Mario and his friends are ready to kick the notorious Koopa King for good, and will stop at nothing to end their ongoing struggle between the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Kingdom. However, what will the consequences of their final fight be? It's winner take all in a showdown between titans, and you won't believe how it ends!
1. Part 1 of 2

**This Is It**

_A Super Mario fanfiction…_

_By xXIBTwistV2Xx_

This story is NOT related to my other Mario story I have- The Adventures of the Super Mario Bros. It is a stand alone story.

**Part One of Two…**

_**Castle Koopa- The Darklands.**_

This was it. The end of the road for King Bowser Koopa.

The final campaign had been launched. The pieces were set, and the plot was in motion.

All that needed to be done was to finish the job for good.

…

For weeks, Bowser had suffered loss after loss after loss…

His armies were withered, and his once mighty airship fleet destroyed.

His minions were deserting him by the hundreds, no longer feeling the threat of the great King Bowser's wrath as the flustered Koopa king struggled to keep himself together.

Everyone knew he was done for. Except Bowser himself.

He had hope. An inkling of a small chance that he could pull out a win against his arch rivals.

There was no grand plan this time… only luck as he and his remaining loyal subjects barricaded his fortress, and vowed to never go down without a fight.

0ooOoo0

"We're ready to begin the attack, Mario and Luigi!" a lone toad informed the brothers. "Mmhm," replied Luigi, who was standing beside his stout, older brother. "Prepare the troops!" Mario ordered, and nodded thankfully to the toad informant. The little mushroom-capped humanoid nodded back with respect, and went on his way to warn the others of their impending assault.

Everyone was standing a few hundred feet away from the main gates of Castle Koopa, having destroyed most of the outer defenses already. The imposing structure was guarded by a moat of boiling lava, which cast a blood-red glow on the lower parts of the castle. The Mario Bros. could feel the tension in the air, as everyone readied for the charge towards Bowser's front door.

Behind the Mario Bros. stood a small army of Toads, Yoshies, and strangely enough, some of Bowser's old minions. They had left the servitude of the evil king, and had now joined Mario and Luigi in an attempt to bring him down. Mario walked to the front of the army, and called for their attention.

"My good, faithful, and most of all, brave allies!" he yelled. All of the soldiers quieted down. "Today, our decade's long war against Bowser finally comes to an end!" The army cheered loudly, determined to insert some meaning into Mario's premature statement. "Bowser is inside his castle, cowering inside his castle's shell like a… well… turtle!" some of the troops scoffed at Mario's remark. "We once feared him! Now the roles are reversed!" he added. "We have the upper hand here; one-thousand of _us_ versus one hundred of _them_!"

The crowd went wild again, this time jumping up and down in anticipation. "Now is the time to strike! We will break down Bowser's gate, storm his castle, infiltrate his throne room, and banish him from our lands _forever_!" Mario gleefully proclaimed. The mass of soldiers cheered again, and began to move forward. "Now, to the gate! Attack!" Mario ordered. The army shouted and charged forward towards the large gate inside the stone Bowser's maw. They broke upon the heavy door like water on rock, knocking it down in a matter of seconds.

Once they were inside though, it looked as if it wouldn't be so easy. There were rows of armed Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and Magikoopas casting spells at them. Besides the Magikoopas that were attacking them, there were other ones that were producing a shield of protective magic over the entire battalion and the passage behind them. The troops taunted the attackers, thinking that they would never get through the convoluted defenses.

As their enemies laughed at them, however, Mario and the others were already formulating a plan to shut them up. Luigi whistled, and some Monty Mole allies of theirs jumped in front of the attackers and burrowed into the castle's floor. The horde of Koopas and such watched nervously from inside their protective shield. Suddenly, about five Monty Moles burrowed under the shield and into the midst of Magikoopas. They hit and slashed at them until they dropped their wands, which caused the magical barrier to dissipate.

All of Bowser's soldiers now wore expressions of fear on their faces as Mario's army rushed forward and attacked them. As the fighting ensued- Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi knew where _their_ battle was. They all rushed past the fighting hordes and charged down the long hallway that they were once guarding. They came to a three-way fork in the passage, so they stopped to figure out where they were going to go.

"Where do you guys think Bowser is?" Luigi asked. "For all we know, he could have evacuated already… since he knew we were coming," suggested Mario. Yoshi began making his typical "Yoshi!" noises and pointed down the center passage from where they were standing. Everyone could see what he was pointing at- a pair of glowing red eyes that sat at the end of the long, dark hallway. "Over there!" Luigi exclaimed, and everyone charged down the passage toward the strange entity. As they neared the figure, they could finally make out what it was.

"King Boo?!" Mario exclaimed, both in shock and confusion. The ghostly king opened his eyes further as he noticed Mario and the others advancing towards him. He didn't say a word to either of them, and didn't seem like he was going to attack them. "Why are you here?" Luigi questioned. "Are you gonna give us any trouble or can we move past you to get to Bowser?" There was an awkward silence before the ghost king answered the trio. "I was sent here to guard Bowser's central tower…" he replied. "From you Mario Brothers…"

"So what you're saying is that we'll have to fight you to get through?" Luigi hissed, and held up his fists. "You all won't turn around and leave this place if I don't?" asked King Boo. The trio thought that his answer to their query was downright strange to say the least. "No, we won't!" Mario yelled, and jumped in front of everyone to get into a fighting stance- fire brimming around his gloves. "This war must end today! One way or another!" he added fiercely.

King Boo just stared solemnly at the three. "Alright then…" he replied calmly and began to float away above them. "You have the conviction of a true warrior, Mario! Heheheheh! Maybe one day we can have our final fight to the death? Wouldn't that be just grand?" he added sinisterly. No one knew what to say- it seemed like King Boo was going to abandon Bowser and let them through… "Your fight isn't with me today, plumbers! After all, you have a date with destiny…" the ghostly king chuckled, and pointed to a metal door with Bowser's insignia behind him. The trio looked at the imposing door, and then back at King Boo. "Good luck, Mario Bros.!" King Boo chuckled. "You're going to need it…" he added mysteriously as he began to disappear.

The trio stood there for a moment, and looked at each other. The magnitude of their situation was finally setting in. For years, Mario and his friends have battled the evil Koopa king time and time again. Every time they gained a victory, it seemed like they would tread closer to finally beating him once and for all. They all wanted the conflict to end so badly. No more kidnappings, conquests, or attacks- just peace. They each gave each other an encouraging look and walked toward the door. As they pushed on it, it swung open to reveal a rather dark and small room that was barricaded on one side by heavy stones and wood. Interestingly enough, there was a small hole in the structure that was shaped like Mario's head. Confused, the trio walked toward it cautiously. As the sounds of battle echoed farther behind them in the castle, they inspected the hole and came to different conclusions.

"It looks like its just the right size for Mario to fit through- although Yoshi and I would probably have a hard time getting through it," Luigi observed. Mario noticed this as well and turned to the others. "I don't know… does he want me to come through first?" he asked. "It's probably a trap…" Luigi replied. They all pondered this and decided that it was probably true. "Well we won't know for sure if we stand around, so I'll go first…" said Mario, and walked toward the entrance. Luigi stopped him before he could go through, however. "Wait! Mario!" he exclaimed.

Mario turned to his forest-green brother and Yoshi. "Before you go… I just want to let you know that… I-in c-case anything happens…" he began to sob. "I-I care about you! I love you bro!" he finally said, and brought Mario into a hug. "I love you too, Luigi," Mario replied calmly. Yoshi walked up to Mario as well and embraced him as a sign of friendship. "Thanks, Yoshi!" Mario laughed. The two pulled away from the red plumber, and watched as he walked up to the hole. "Good luck, Mario!" Luigi shouted while Yoshi began punching the air to encourage Mario. Mario winked at them and flashed a peace sign. "See you guys on the other side!" he said, and rolled through the tight opening.

0ooOoo0

"I knew this would happen!" Lemmy growled as he and his seven siblings; Morton, Iggy, Larry, Wendy, Roy, Ludwig, and Junior sat around a crystal ball and watched the battle between the two opposing armies. They were elsewhere in the castle, and far away from the battle itself because of their refusal to participate. They were all fed up with their father's destructive behavior to himself and his kingdom, and only wanted to see the end of the conflict. They were only kids after all, and never truly felt that Bowser's conquests were all that worth it. They had only joined in his ventures because he was their father, and they respected him. Those days were long gone now, as they stood by while their fathers' kingdom was being overthrown before their very eyes.

"What do you think'll happen when Mario gets to King Dad?" Iggy asked thoughtfully. "Well, he'll beat the crud out of him- hopefully knocking some sense into the oaf…" Morton remarked. "Hey! Hey!" Junior shouted. "What is it, brat?!" Wendy exclaimed. "Mario just got into the tower!" Roy replied. All of the Koopalings crowded around the crystal ball to get a good look for themselves. "And there he goes! Just like clockwork!" Ludwig observed. "It should all be over soon…" Larry commented.

Ludwig walked away from the group and motioned for all of them to follow him. "Come on guys…" he said, and everyone got up to go over to him. "Let's oversee the final moments of King Dad's kingdom together…"

0ooOoo0

Mario rolled through the tight opening in the barricade to be greeted with a miraculous and disturbing scene. _"What the-,"_ he thought to himself. In front of him was a red carpet leading all the way to a large, steel door inside the inner sanctum of Bowser's huge, central tower. Stranger still, was the fact that Koopa Troopas and Hammer Bros. lined the red carpet. They weren't poised for attack, however. Instead, they were _saluting_ Mario. "_Okay then… A few minutes ago these guys were trying to kill us- now they're saluting me?"_ Mario pondered, but walked between them anyway. He followed the red carpet's trail up to the big steel doors so he could see inside. It was a big, round room with a high ceiling and walls.

"Massive armored doors, enclosed room, nowhere to go but in or out?" Mario said to himself, and chuckled. "Why didn't he just put a big, flashing sign that said 'This way to the trap!'" he scoffed. Bowser was never known for being one with the element of surprise anyways though. "So much for presentation! Ready to party, Bowser?" Mario called out as he walked inside the room. The heavy steel doors slammed shut behind him, and he looked up towards his enemy. "Oh, so what do we have here? A new toy?" he taunted Bowser.

Bowser was inside a suit of robotic battle armor that was themed after his Koopa Clown Car. It had a simple set of two arms, legs, hands and feet and featured a spiky shield on the left hand and a big ball'n'chain on the right one. Bowser looked more furious than ever and Mario could tell that he was not messing around this time. "This is the end of it, **plumber**! You won't leave this room alive!" Bowser shouted at Mario. "Big words, big Koopa!" Mario retorted as flames ignited around his clenched fists. "Let's a go!"

**End of Part 1…**

_It's the finale to the decades old struggle! Who will win? The heroic plumber, Mario? Or the desperate tyrant, Bowser? Stay tuned until the next chapter to find out!_

All characters and rights belong to Nintendo.


	2. Part 2 of 2

**Part 2 of 2…**

"Twenty-five years, Mario!" Bowser roared at the plumber who was standing before him. "For twenty-five years you have been a thorn in my side, Mario! Well, **NO MORE**!" Bowser added, and proceeded to chuckle maniacally. Mario just stood there and sized up Bowser's mechanical battle suit. "Mmhm! I see…" he shrugged. "Don't sass me, you pipe-plundering piece of pestilence!" Bowser angrily retorted. "I am King Bowser Koopa! The greatest despot that ever lived!" he added.

"If you say so," Mario chortled. "I do say so! And what I say is law! Do you know why? Because this is **MY** kingdom, and you're trespassing in it!" the Koopa king yelled. "Do you remember when I stole Princess Peach's castle and took hold of the Star Rod?!" he asked viciously. "I've beaten you before, plumber, and _I can do it again!_" he hissed, and swung his ball'n'chain towards Mario's position. Mario was too quick, though, and he dodged the impact zone- landing perfectly on his feet again in a different spot. "Impressive resume, Bowser!" Mario replied condescendingly. "But you left out a few things… like how me and a bunch of other 'powerless' individuals returned and brought her castle back. We even took the Star Rod from you!" he exclaimed.

"I did it again!" Bowser yelled back. "I took her castle into outer space- where it served as a base for my troops while I was creating my own **GALAXY**!" he roared, and made his mech jump to where Mario was in an attempt to crush him. Although Mario just dodged it again and re-positioned himself farther away from Bowser. "Oh, you mean the one that _destroyed itself_?" the plumber retorted. "**SHUT UP!**" Bowser shouted back at him, and swung the ball'n'chain towards Mario again, but missed and hit a stone statue of himself instead. The heavy weapon shattered the statue, and Mario leapt over the chain as it swept underneath him.

"And what about you and Junior tried to frame me for polluting Isle Delfino? I ended up having to save the island and kick your butt for the twentieth time! And guess what? I still had time for a vacation afterwards!" Mario taunted the Koopa king. "No big deal! A speck on the windshield!" Bowser yelled back at him, and raised his mech's arms toward Mario. Bright, rainbow colored laser beams shot out of its wrists and towards Mario. Mario dodged the beams with ease and ran towards the bottom of Bowser's robot. "Ha! Denial much, Bowser?" Mario replied. "You were left stranded on an island!"

Mario ran under the mech, and towards the other side of the room, with Bowser frantically trying to locate him. "And think about this, Bowser!" Mario shouted to the Koopa. The big mech turned around and faced him. "How many Goombas and Koopa Troopas have I stomped?" he asked and threw a good-sized fireball towards the mech's body. It hit with excessive force, making Bowser stumble backwards a little. "**ARGH!**" Bowser roared. "How many times have I triumphed over you and saved Peach?" Mario shouted again and threw two more fireballs towards Bowser, both of which hit. "**STOP IT!**" Bowser roared again, and fired more laser blasts towards Mario. The nimble plumber hopped over them, and shot more fireballs at the mech's legs. Bowser knew what he was trying to do, and quickly swung his ball'n'chain towards Mario. He back flipped over the ball as it collided with the ground and became stuck. He then proceeded to run up it's chain and onto one of the mech's arms so that he was eye level with Bowser.

"I've beat you _many_ times before, Bowser! _And I'll do it again_!" Mario told the seething Koopa. Bowser could only sit there and glare at Mario's smug face while he began to salivate with rage, trying to come up with a real crusher. "**RRRRRRRRRRR!FFFFFSSSSSSSTTTT!Y-Y-YOU…!**" Bowser hissed and growled at Mario, who could swear that the Koopa King's mouth was beginning to foam a bit. Suddenly, Bowser lifted his mech's arm and swat Mario off of him. The plumber fell to the floor, but quickly got up. He saw Bowser shoot several chains out of the top of the mech and watched as the grappling hooks attached to them grabbed onto something at the top of the ceiling. The mech rose up until Mario could see that it was partially suspended from a rotating, steel disc high above them. "Whoa!" Mario exclaimed and jumped back a bit. "Ch-j-just a plumber! Stupid slop-mopper!" Bowser said to himself. "Whoa!" Mario exclaimed as the mech began rotating with the disc, going faster and faster every few seconds. "Mmm-hmm-hmm-**HMM**! No more games! _Game over!_ End it all! **END HIM!**" Bowser prattled madly enough so that Mario could hear. The lasers on the mech's wrists activated once again as Bowser held them out to his sides, created a spinning-laser blade effect around the entire diameter of the room. Mario was beginning to get a little worried. "You can only beat the averages for so long until they beat _you_!" Bowser yelled at Mario as he spun around. The spinning metal disc that the mech was suspended from began lowering itself, meaning that Bowser's laser field would be lowered with it. Mario's space was gradually decreasing as the lasers neared his level, so he decided to pull out the big guns.

Before the assault on the castle, Mario had packed a few precautionary items to use. One of these just happened to be a Cape Feather. Mario absorbed the power up, and within seconds he had acquired a flowing, yellow cape. Now he had the ability to fly and make hard impacts on things as he landed. Mario got a fairly good running start as he flew up and through Bowser's laser beams that were still madly spinning. Mario winced as he felt a bit of the cape get burned off by the rainbow lasers, but he continued anyways. Bowser didn't seem to notice that Mario had bypassed his laser attack, so Mario had no problem flying towards the chains that were keeping Bowser suspended above the floor. He ran into each one, knocking them free of their supports on the disc above. "**NO!**" shouted Bowser as he felt the mech drop to the floor.

As the heavy robot fell to the floor, it toppled over on its front so that its back was clearly visible. In the center of its body was a huge, red bolt that seemed to hold the entire thing together. "Oh look!" Mario exclaimed as he hovered above the mech. "The crucial bolt to this thing! Don't mind if I do!" he said as he flew toward it. Bowser was too quick for him this time, though… shockingly. The angry Koopa flipped the robot back over just in time to stop Mario from reaching his weak spot. "Oh no you don't! I won't let you!" Bowser yelled and blocked Mario's pound attack with his robotic arms. Mario was bounced back to the floor, but he regained his composure. "Fine! You want to do it the hard way?" he scoffed, and flew upwards towards the ceiling. "If you want your revenge, Bowser, you'll have to catch me!" Mario shouted back to him. "_Mushroom-munching, sewer slickin', nuisance!_" Bowser grumbled to himself as he watched Mario ascend. He fired a reserve set of chains at the spinning disc above them and began to raise himself up once again.

Mario watched Bowser until he was almost eye level with the plumber. "That's it, Koopa! Right this way!" Mario snickered to himself. Bowser was getting closer to him, and was about to launch another ball'n'chain attack, but Mario swiftly flew over and behind him. "Whoops! Gotcha!" Mario chuckled at Bowser. "What-?" Bowser asked aloud, obviously stunned. Mario located the crucial bolt on the back of the mech, and dived head on for it. He hit the bolt, driving it through the center of the robot armor and making the whole thing slam hard into the wall. "**AUGH!**" Bowser roared again. "**NO NO NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!**" Bowser practically screamed as the chains weakened and detached from his mech. He began to fall as Mario swooped in with his cape and proceeded to rush the mech and slice off the arm and hand that contained the spiky shield. "**I FORBID YOU!**" Bowser yelled as he and the severed robot limb crashed to the floor. "**I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!**" he raged at the top of his lungs as Mario bashed the robot's main body into the floor. "**I—AUGH!**" Bowser roared in frustration as he struggled to make the mech stand up after Mario's beating. "Whew! Ready to surrender?" Mario asked as he wiped his brow dramatically.

"_Can't…Won't let…Not this time…!_" Bowser stammered as he finally got the robot up again. He fired another laser blast at Mario with the only remaining hand of the mech. _"Should've known better…"_ Mario sighed to himself as he dodged the beams. Mario turned back for a few split seconds to shoot some projectiles of his own- fireballs. They each hit with dead-on accuracy as the robot grew visibly weaker. Then, Mario revved himself up for a head-on attack. He charged full-force toward Bowser, dodging laser beams as he went. "N-n-no! S-stay back! _**Lose!**__**DIE!**_" Bowser called out desperately as Mario neared his mech's body. The plumber shot upwards when he was under the robot, launching it off the ground and into the air with extreme force. "**NYAAAAAAAAAGH!**" Bowser raged as the mech launched toward the ceiling. Mario flew out from under the mech, allowing it to begin falling again. He then repositioned himself in front of it to deal the finishing blows- and flew towards it. The first fatal blow broke the other arm off.

"_I-," _Bowser groaned as Mario did this.

"—_hate-," _he groaned louder as Mario flew into the mech's legs and broke them off.

"—_**that**_-," he shouted even louder as Mario flew toward his cockpit for the final blow.

"—_**PLUMBER!**_" he raged at the top of lungs, salivating from the mouth at the same time while tears began streaming down his face as Mario slammed into the Koopa Clown cockpit- smashing it into pieces in an explosion.

Mario gracefully landed with a triumphant look on his face as Bowser crashed to the floor along with the shattered pieces of his mech. "Wow. That was cathartic!" Mario exclaimed as his cape power up wore off. "But ending a decades long duel would do that! Wouldn't it?" he exclaimed as he walked toward the humiliated and beaten form of Bowser, who was obviously too worn out to fight anymore. "You hear that, Bowser? You're _done_!" he added. Bowser didn't have anything to say- instead he laid face down on the cold, stone floor and began to shake uncontrollably. He slowly began to pull himself up a bit, but could only get up on his knees and kept his head down- his upper body suspended by his shaky arms as he sat there on all fours. All he could muster was "F-f-fnnnghhh…" Mario didn't pay attention to it and went on to take a kneel by the Koopa king. "I'll leave the speeches about 'winning the day' and 'conquering evil' to Peach. I'll be content with _'Nyah-nyah!'_ and _'I win'_!" he boasted.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH HHHHH!**" Bowser suddenly screamed towards the ceiling with his hands open at his sides. Mario was taken aback by the sudden outburst, and leapt back a little. The Koopa fell backwards onto his shell and began pulling on his horns while kicking like a child throwing a tantrum. "Um… Bowser?" Mario asked with genuine concern. "Nnnngh… nnnngh… nnnnngh!" Bowser grunted as he kept up the disturbing display. Then he pulled out his hair atop his head, making Mario wince a bit in shock. "**NNNNYAAAAGH!**" he roared again. Mario could tell that something was seriously wrong with the way Bowser was acting. It occurred to him that this may not be one of his usual tantrums. He could tell that there was an out-of-control crazy look in the Koopa's eyes, something he had never seen before. "**Mari- plumb! NYAGH! HATE! NO!**" Bowser continued on with his nonsensical ranting as he began flinging parts of his mech around the room. "H-hey Koopa! King Koopa!" Mario yelled to him. "Yo! Uh, Bowser?!"

Bowser suddenly swung an admittedly sub-par punch toward Mario, who of course dodged it. "**GRRRAAAAHH!**" the Koopa yelled as he swung another weak punch, and fell to the ground again. He began kicking and pounding his fists on the ground again. "**Mine! NO! Can't! NRAHH! MRBLFPHH!**" he raged to no one in particular. "Mario!" he heard someone call out. "Luigi?" Mario recognized the voice and turned to see his brother, Yoshi, and some soldiers that joined them in the assault enter the room. "We got here as fast as we could! We just managed to get through the barrier and pull those doors apart…" Luigi explained, but saw Bowser writhing on the ground and looked at him. "—And?" Mario asked, waiting for Luigi to finish his sentence. "Right. The Koopa Troopas and Hammer Bros. just retreated a few minutes ago…" Luigi went on.

"**RRRRAAAAGH!**" Bowser interrupted them, carrying on his insane display. "Mario… what did you _DO_ to him?" Luigi asked with concern. "I just beat him like always…" Mario's voice trailed off as the Koopa king began throwing another fit in his own puddle of tears. "More than that," they heard another voice say. It belonged to Ludwig von Koopa, one of Bowser's eight children, who was just walking into the room after them. Following him were his seven siblings, all of which were observing their father's frightening episode. "You didn't just _beat_ him this time, Mario…" he began to explain to the plumber. "You _**broke**_ him." The gravity of Ludwig's words began to sink in with everyone.

"Eccentrics aside, he really is a capable ruler…" Ludwig began to say as he took a kneel beside his father, who was currently curled up in a fetal position on the floor with wide eyes. "He can conjure up the most creative and inventive plans. He probably would have even conquered the entire world if he had the opportunity." Ludwig stood up and put his hands behind his back. "And then there's _you_…" he addressed Mario. "All of the planning and scheming in the world wouldn't stop you. It's been gnawing at his mind for years now. His defeat in outer space shook him the hardest. He's been losing his grip for several days now. He simply could not take one more defeat at your hands…" The entire room fell silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy. "So… what happens now?" Luigi asked timidly. "Now?" Ludwig replied. "Now you leave us to take care of our poor King Dad. Now you go home and celebrate. You've won," he solemnly confessed. Everyone took one last look at the Koopalings and their broken father before leaving the room.

Once they were out, the soldiers, Yoshi, and Luigi burst into cheers. "Hooray!" they all yelled. They all cheered until they reunited with the bulk of the friendly troops, who also broke out in celebration. Luigi and Yoshi walked beside Mario, who was leading the army out of the area. "So, when you got through the barricade- you went to that big room, right?" Luigi asked excitedly. "Yeah, obvious trap- but whatever right?" Mario replied half-heartedly. "And then what?" asked a Goomba soldier. "He showed up in his robot- um, armor… and then I destroyed it," Mario replied coldly. "Awesome! Nothing can stop the Mario Brothers!" the Goomba cheered. Mario tried his best to play along, but Luigi could tell that he was acting different. "Hey bro? Is something wrong?" Luigi asked quietly. Mario looked behind his shoulder at Castle Koopa for a few seconds. There wasn't as much menace associated with the place anymore, and a white flag of surrender was blowing in the wind where a Bowser banner once flew. "Eh, must be tired from kicking some Koopa butt!" Mario laughed, and shrugged his true feelings off. "Okay guys, let's prepare for the trip home!" a Toad soldier yelled. While everyone was getting ready at their base camp, Luigi decided to have a small talk with his brother. "Hey, are you sure you're going to be alright?" he asked. "I guess-," Mario replied sadly. "I… didn't think it'd end like this. I knew what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting this… I mean… now what do I do?" he explained to Luigi. His forest green brother stood up next to him. "That's an adventure in itself, isn't it? Trust me… fulfilling your duty and moving on can be a good thing…" he said to comfort his brother.

0ooOoo0

"There-there, father dearest. The bad plumbers are gone now. Shhh…" a certain Koopaling said to himself. Deep inside the dungeons of Castle Koopa, Ludwig von Koopa looked through a steel door's window into a room with padded, white walls. Inside sat his father, Bowser, wrapped up in a straightjacket and mumbling to himself on the floor. "_No… plumber, can't… where! Why?_" he said to himself. From the window, Ludwig watched his father with a smirk on his face. "You just stay cozy and crazy, you bloated brute. It's our turn now…" he said to Bowser as if he could actually hear him. "And don't worry about your little kingdom… my siblings and I will handle _everything_… trust me!"

**THE END… ?**

_All properties are owned by Nintendo._


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